An Inclusive, Interdisciplinary Approach to Spirituality Without Dogma or Religion
Alchemical Dialogues - from Lead to Gold
Alchemical Dialogues are live and unscripted conversations recorded on Zoom brought to you by the great folks of Amber Light International. We choose topics from our current social and cultural climate, with an emphasis on humanism and spirituality. In a cross-collaboration with both Lisa Carley's new podcast The Labyrinth, and Joel Lesses' Unraveling Religion podcast, we have begun posting 'Selected, Best of The Labyrinth' and 'Selected, Best of Unraveling Religion' episodes on Alchemical Dialogues. We continue to promote conversations that evolve our understanding of the vital topics of spirituality, the humanities, psychology, and The Arts and deepen community through this mutual support. Please check these out! If you would like to participate in our podcast, please contact us using this form.
When the edited audio podcasts are released, announcements and links are sent out to our general mailing list, and posted on our Facebook and Instagram pages. You can subscribe to Alchemical Dialogues on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, or search for us in your favorite podcast app.
Dusted off as one of Unraveling Religion’s original episodes back in 2008, Activist and Poet Chris Barbera joins Joel for a talk exploring the landscape of our collective sorrows and how to address them. The terrain covers the root response to suffering found in exploring spirituality. The question of ‘work’ and how work is defined was answered. Chris begins with his own expressed spiritual development and biography, culminating with a deep awakening in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. The realization placed for Chris the understanding of the inequality of systems of power against many of its marginalized citizens, mainly due to the drive to consume and commoditize, an unexamined priorities, in our nation and world. These power structures have sought to accumulate wealth and power, and in the talk Chris and Joel also explore the validities of all the world’s religions. Chris came to realize G-d is not an idea but a living Reality. Through the talk, Chris and Joel discuss how these systems criminalize the poor. Also examined were ways to alleviate suffering, guided by various spiritual doctrines, and searching ‘where does G-d fit into all of this?’ The differences of science and religion, and how the ancient cultures made no distinction between the two. A profound examination of humankind’s direction, hope, and potential outcome. Biography of Chris Barbera: Chris Barbera has lived in the backs of empty churches and intentional communities and worked on various social justice movements and has, for many years, administered an educational nonprofit, Jesus the Liberator Seminary of Religious Justice, which focuses upon developing a “Prison Theology” with people incarcerated. He currently lives intentionally at the interfaith nonprofit, Network of Religious Communities. In short, he has lived and worked with poor people at the intersection of grassroots justice movements, spiritually lived ideas and... View Article
Two friends find meaning in discussing life and reveal kindness as the lasting binding element; is it Plato or Aristotle? It is only how we define love that matters, because only love endures forever. Richard Wicka shares Sartre’s ‘The Wall’ Joel Lesses shares a Chasidic Tale ‘The Rabbi’s Gift’ each finds newness in understanding because this evening we were not alone, we shared an evening walk. Bio: Richard Wicka is a Buffalo, N.Y.-based media artist and photographer and the proprietor of “The Home of the Future,”a media access center and production/recording studio based in his Kaisertown home. Wicka has been providing a forum for artists in all media, activists, and everyday citizens of his Western New York community since the mid-1970s. He provides interested parties with technical support, studio time, and production tools free of charge, encouraging them to express themselves in ways that mainstream culture has not historically sanctioned. With the advent of internet radio came ThinkTwice Radio in 2006, offering podcasts to anyone with a subject to discuss and the commitment to produce a regular show.
In 2015, in the wide expanse of spiritual and emotional terrain, before his passing in 2018, Maj Ragain, northeast Ohio’s poetic fixture and teacher sits with Joel to talk of spirituality and mentorship, sharing poems, talking of tenderness and eroticism and the flux of life, ‘all rivers run to the sea.’ Bio: Maj Ragain was born into a small, southeastern Illinois farm town. Home-tutored and raised on Vernor Lake, he earned a BA in English at Eastern Illinois University, and an MA in English at the University of Illinois. He has been on faculty, off and on, at Kent State University since 1969, where he obtained his PhD in 1990. He is the author of seven chapbooks of poetry and five book-length collections, all of which contribute to Clouds Pile Up in the North: New & Selected Poems. Maj had served for more than thirty years as host to open poetry readings in Kent, monthly, downtown, mentoring hundreds of poets through the years.
In this brief talk, Joel describes the origins and purpose of Unraveling Religion, reviewing some of the guests and giving an overall flavor of what Unraveling Religion examines through its conversations.
Listen to and share our latest podcast with Joel Lesses. Henry and Joel discuss lessons from lived experience with mental health distress, including:• lessons from trauma• isolation, loneliness• marginalization• existential crisis• how mental health distress may be a calling to become a healer leader and teacher in community. Extracting lessons and asking the ‘why’ slowly begins to uncover answers, reveals meaning and purpose, calls us to understanding and wisdom of life’s deeper questions. There, passions reveal themselves, including for Joel poetry, spirituality and mysticism. Education Training Center (https://www.joellesses.com), Joel’s agency seeks to address areas of need for individuals marginalized by mental health, trauma, and psychological distress without distinction to cause. Joel Lesses founded the Education Training Center as a means of counseling people marginalized by trauma, addiction, and psychological distress, and its effects including incarceration, homelessness, and institutionalization. He is dedicated to reframing mental health distress as a potential spiritual marker and existential opportunity. Also, vested in Poetry and Literature as an educator and poet, through writing workshops, poetry roundtables, poetry, and a manuscript. Finally, other passions include the intersection of poetry, spirituality, science, and phenomenology shared and disparate in the human experience, and transformative power of self inquiry and introspection through contemplative and meditative practices explored in his podcast, ‘Unraveling Religion’ mystical and practical discussions as an exploration of spirituality and its relation to religion and psychology. Joel was nominated and voted previously ‘Buffalo’s Best Poet’; he has been published in various magazines and publications, founded Ground and Sky Poetry Series, and facilitated numerous poetry workshops. Currently, he is working on an autobiography of poetry and prose entitled ‘Odyssey of Autumn’s Breath: An American Collection and Life.’ He has worked as a healthcare administrator, trainer, facilitator, and consultant, leading the understanding in education treatment and advocacy regarding substance use,... View Article
Listen to and share our latest podcast with Dr. John Erhart. Why is there such reluctance to allow people to be who they are? Are we so afraid of “not-me” so that differences become pathologized, forbidden, and beyond our limited imaginations? What does this do to us when we feel we must hide to survive? What does it mean that others must be feared? We are in a time when something as basic, genetic, as the core of our being has been, and still is denied, and then may be used as a justification to unleash rejection, division, devaluation, bullying, and violence. It is difficult and painful for some of us to believe. Yet, some, perhaps even many of us, have lived through this….witnessed it directly or indirectly. And some of us may have even perpetrated some of the prejudice, unwittingly or not. Psychiatrist, friend, and colleague John Erhart has lived through and witnessed personal and professional traumas and victories in his pursuit of being, accepting, living, and celebrating the person who he is. It is easier now, but….What about the road ahead for others? The work is not done. John F. Erhart, M.D. After completing undergraduate studies at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Dr. Erhart received his doctorate in medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He completed post-graduate medical training at the University Of Rochester Strong Memorial Hospital. After an internship in pediatrics, internal medicine and neurology, Dr. Erhart completed a psychiatric residency and child psychiatry fellowship through the university’s Department of Psychiatry. He is a consultant for various agencies in the Rochester/Finger Lakes area.
In this brief talk, Henry and Joel Lesses examine the history and relationship between Amber Light’s own podcast Alchemical Dialogues and Joel’s podcast Unraveling Religion. Henry and Joel have been friends since 2014, and have cross-pollinated sharing ideas and wisdom including episodes regarding dreams, poetry, the spiritual path, psychology, and mental health. You can find Unraveling Religion on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unraveling-religion/id1510379967
Listen to and share our latest podcast with Hafizullah Chisti. Neurodivergence—also known as autistic spectrum—is now more frequently recognized, especially vis-à-vis neurotypicality. The latter is often viewed as the expected pattern, and those of that ilk wield much power in our society. Hafizullah views himself as neurodivergent and Henry as neurotypical. Henry agrees. Surprisingly or not, they have found interesting intersections, similarities, differences, and overlaps. Join these two friends and colleagues as they explore what these labels might really mean, not only abstractly and theoretically, but also on a personal and relationship level. Journey with them as they delve into the psychological and social ramifications their neurodivergence and neurotypicality have led them to experience and witness in their own lives, in their relationships, on their spiritual paths, and in organizations. What has helped them maneuver? What has hurt them? What can we learn and use to move us forward in being truly more inclusive and respectful of our gifts? Hafizullah Chisti is a murshid in the Sufi lineage of Hazrat Inayat Khan and got his start on “self-work” through Gestalt Therapy and deep bodywork—leading him, in-turn, to some years of Buddhist practice, and then to the “embodied” path of the Sufis. Hafizullah has a special interest in the interface between psychology and spiritual practice, and is currently enrolled in a three-year trauma-therapist training program in the Somatic Experiencing™ approach. He has also been challenged and gifted in life and on the spiritual path by his own neurodivergence, and is developing guidance for neurodivergent spiritual seekers and their neurotypical guides.
Listen to and share part two of our podcast panel discussion with Aude Chesnais, Henry Cretella, Tania Day-Magallon, Joel David Lesses, and Margot VanEtten. Aude Chesnais, Ph.D., has encountered various spiritual traditions before finding her family on the Sufi path since 2017. She is a political ecologist and senior researcher for the Native Lands Advocacy Project, and has been working closely with native communities in the USA for the past 10 years on issues of land sovereignty and Traditional Ecological Knowledge, particularly in support of regenerative food-systems transitions. Aude’s work reflects strongly on her positionality as a white researcher working in Indigenous settings. Although her spiritual path has led her on the quest to understand oneness, Aude’s professional path and commitment to social justice constantly reminds her of the real social impacts of human distinctions on their lives. Reconciling these two coexisting realities is Aude’s lifetime quest. Aude received her MA in social and solidarity economics from Université de Haute-Alsace, France and her Ph.D. in sociology from Colorado State University, CO, USA. Henry Cretella, M.D., is the host of Alchemical Dialogues and co-director of Amber Light International. He is a retired psychiatrist who received his medical degree from Vanderbilt University and his post-graduate training at the University of Rochester’s Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY. Henry was raised Roman Catholic and later began initial studies in Shamanism and Tibetan Buddhism, as well as in the martial arts before finding a home in the Sufi lineage of Inayat Khan. Henry no longer practices an exoteric religion, but teaches and guides others in a mystically oriented spirituality that incorporates the wisdom from many traditions and disciplines. For Henry, he believes that we are in an era calling for each of us to find and follow our own unique spiritual path. He also believes that we can... View Article
Listen to and share part one of our podcast panel discussion with Aude Chesnais, Henry Cretella, Tania Day-Magallon, Joel David Lesses, and Margot VanEtten. Spirituality and religion are not the same, but this can be confusing for many. Westerners, in growing numbers, identify as “spiritual, but not religious.” Likewise, there are many who list their religious affiliation as “other.” Atheism and agnosticism are growing, often touting the benefits of community without the perceived negatives that religion and spirituality add—or do not. What are the implications of spirituality, of religion, or neither? Join this panel discussion with five practitioners who are either involved or have been with both spirituality and religion. Listen as they explore their views and experiences. Aude Chesnais, Ph.D., has encountered various spiritual traditions before finding her family on the Sufi path since 2017. She is a political ecologist and senior researcher for the Native Lands Advocacy Project, and has been working closely with native communities in the USA for the past 10 years on issues of land sovereignty and Traditional Ecological Knowledge, particularly in support of regenerative food-systems transitions. Aude’s work reflects strongly on her positionality as a white researcher working in Indigenous settings. Although her spiritual path has led her on the quest to understand oneness, Aude’s professional path and commitment to social justice constantly reminds her of the real social impacts of human distinctions on their lives. Reconciling these two coexisting realities is Aude’s lifetime quest. Aude received her MA in social and solidarity economics from Université de Haute-Alsace, France and her Ph.D. in sociology from Colorado State University, CO, USA. Henry Cretella, M.D., is the host of Alchemical Dialogues and co-director of Amber Light International. He is a retired psychiatrist who received his medical degree from Vanderbilt University and his post-graduate training at the University of... View Article
The information provided on this website and these podcasts is for informational purposes only. Nothing on this website and in these podcasts is intended to be a substitute for medical, psychological, psychiatric, or any health related diagnosis or treatment.
The opinions expressed by the guests in these podcasts are not necessarily the opinions of Amber Light International and anyone associated with this organization.
